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The Senate Law & Public Safety Committee has approved legislation sponsored by Senator Anthony Bucco that would prohibit law enforcement agencies from considering the number of arrests made and citations issued by a police officer when evaluating the officer’s overall performance.

“There should be no doubt when a police officer makes an arrest or issues a speeding ticket that their action was the result of an honest and impartial effort to enforce the law,” said Bucco. “Any suggestion otherwise poisons the well of trust that is necessary for law enforcment agencies to work cooperatively and effectively with the communities they serve.”

Should be no doubt when a police officer makes an arrest or issues a speeding ticket that their action was impartial https://t.co/UVqoC3U40O

Quotas have long been a controversial aspect of policing, with many in law enforcement denying on the record that quotas have ever existed. It has been suggested that some agencies have set quotas, official or otherwise, to generate revenues for state and local governments and to pad statistics showing they are effectively fighting crime.

Current state law prohibits law enforcement agencies from establishing policies that require police officers to meet quotas for arrests and citations related to motor vehicle offenses, but dues not preclude agencies from using data related to the number of arrests made or tickets issued during performance reviews or when making personnel decisions such as promotions, demotions and other benefits of employment.

Bucco’s legislation, S-1105, explicity forbids the use of arrest and ticket data for those purposes.